Transcript Integrating Quotations

Goal 1: Introduce the Quotation
with a Signal Phrase
The goal is to splice the
quotation onto
your own sentence
to create greater
coherence.
Image: “To Splice a Rope.” Courtesy of “Lost Crafts.” http://www.lostcrafts.com/Farm/Blacksmithing-20.html
Troubleshooting
 What’s wrong with this?
 In “Learning to Read,” Malcolm X shares how
frustrating it was to be stuck in jail, unable to
communicate. He writes, “It was because of my letters
that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire
some kind of homemade education” (257).
 [I uploaded the correct version of this slide so that it
wouldn’t be confusing!]
How do you introduce quotations?
 Always use a signal phrase to lead into the quotation.
Splice the quotation onto your own words.
 Example 1: Splice the sentence onto a verb that describes
what the author or article is doing:


Malcolm X writes, “I saw that the best thing I could do was get
hold of a dictionary—to study, to learn some words” (258).
Other examples:
 The narrator says,
 According to Gregor,
 Punctuation Rules:
 Use a comma after the verb to introduce the quotation.
How do you introduce quotations?
 Example 2: Splice the quotation onto an independent clause (a
clause that could be a full sentence):
 In his study of multiple CF programs, Gawande discovers that the
best results are not achieved by technical skill alone: “more nebulous
factors like aggressiveness and diligence and ingenuity can matter
enormously” (226).
 Punctuation rules?
 Use a colon to show that the quote will explain the
clause/sentence.
How do you introduce quotations?
 Integrate smaller parts of the quotation with your own
words to create a seamless sentence:
 E.g. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. insists that an “unjust law
is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law,” and
he proceeds to argue, based on this premise, that “all
segregation statutes are unjust because segregation
distorts the soul” (208).
 Punctuation rules: When the quotations are integrated
into the sentence structure, you do not need
additional punctuation.
Brackets
 Use brackets if you change something or add
something to the quotation.
 Freire claims, “Hence, [problem-posing education]
corresponds to the historical nature of human kind”
(84).
 The narrator explains how the images in the wallpaper
shift as the light changes and darkens: “At night in any
kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and
worst of all by moonlight, [the wallpaper] becomes bars!
The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it as
plain as can be” (Gilman 10).
Ellipses
 Use ellipses (three spaced periods) when you leave out
words (but don’t overuse them). Make sure that the
sentence is still grammatically correct and retains its
meaning.
 In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand
notes that "some individuals make a point of learning
every recent rumor or tale . . . and in a short time a lively
exchange of details occurs" (78).

This example is taken from the OWL at Purdue Handout on
MLA Citations, which you can find here.